Demétrio Carvalho's diary

Demétrio Carvalho building tori line with the crew of the FV Verde Vale XI
Friday 17 August
This mix of knowledge and different techniques really defines the spirit and soul of the Brazilian fishermen. However, now they are all anxious for a hot bath and a beer, and so am I.
Thursday 9 August
We are again anchored. Several days of really bad weather are preventing us from doing our work. The turbulent sea prevents us from going out on the deck.
Tuesday 31 July
Finally we started setting out the fishing and tori lines. After three days anchored, the weather was better and we could reach the fishing area where we did the first set.
Saturday 28 July
The weather is good, but pretty cold and for the Brazilians, very, very freezing - around 9º Celsius. Outside, penguins and sea lions make it clear to us that we are going to a nice fishing area.
Wednesday 25 July
As part of our work putting bird scaring devices (tori lines) on longline fishing vessels who use the port of Itajai, I am visiting the Verde Vale vessel. They have heard about all the awareness raising activities that we at the Albatross Task Force are doing. The skipper has agreed to have me on board.
Monday 18 June
We sailed to the south, and the sea is very agitated and I'm worried because maybe we won't set today. A day without working means one more day at the sea, which makes the fishermen upset. But I carry on testing different techniques to help save albatrosses.
Saturday 5 May
We are a little below parallel of 30º S next to the meridian 48º W. The sea is in such a hard way and we are sailing in direction to a cold front that approaches.
Sunday 29 April
Akira sails to the fishing area, and during the journey, I build the tori lines cables (bird scaring lines) together with the crew. They learned a lot, and so did I!
Wednesday 25 April
All our arrangements were coordinated in an efficient and animated way. The initial discussions with the vessel 'Akira', a longline fishing vessel, under the command of skipper Rogerio and your crew, indicated that everything about our high sea trip would be fine.
Friday 20 April
'Life at sea is an adventure...' The first time I heard this sentence was at the Projeto Albatroz's video 'Sea Workers', during a Scientific Observer Course, and I had no idea how it would change my life.